Ingredients
Method
1.Place the milk and cream in a saucepan, add the vanilla and heat gently until just bubbling around the edges.
2.Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour until yolks are pale and the sugar has completely dissolved.
3.Pour hot milk mixture in a thin stream onto yolk mixture, whisking continuously. Then pour liquid back into saucepan. Add the rum and heat very gently, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. (NB: Custard will thicken as it cools.)
Custard is a simple emulsion of egg yolks and milk or cream and needs gentle handling or it may split. Although the addition of a small amount of cornflour helps to reduce the risk of curdling or splitting, gentle heating is the key. The consistency of a custard when it just starts to thicken, or is thick enough to cling to the back of a spoon, is known as à la nappe.
Note
